Out on the beach, I found these two remembrances of lives gone by: a Gulf fritillary butterfly, short-stopped on its fall migration, and a fragment of very old pottery (most likely made of the red clay in my bioregion). Barnacles had built a home on what once had been an ancient pot. I placed these beautiful remnants side by side, considering their messages of impermanence and beauty. Today, in many spiritual traditions, we honor our ancestors, and perhaps we feel their presence more closely in … Continue
Last weekend, a series of impressive king tides, swelled by the full moon, rose our Gulf waters a foot or more higher above normal. In south Florida, sea water ran deep in the streets. But along our lightly populated coast, I noticed only submerged docks, from Lanark to Eastpoint. On St. Vincent Island, the king tides carved two long swales and filled them with salt Gulf water. The pool closer to the dunes was deeper, and had apparently entrapped an … Continue
I never expected to see a flock of shorebirds amongst the high peaks of Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness last week. Golden eagles, yes. Elk and mule deer and marmots, yes. Single spotted sandpipers, sure. But there they were, in a synchronous flock, spinning like snowflakes over glacial Dewey Lake, more than 9000 feet above sea level. I don’t carry my excellent binoculars backpacking anymore. In my 60s, I aim to shoulder the lightest possible weight on our seven-day hikes (somewhere in the neighborhood … Continue
June 23, 2016 Yesterday I spent 9 hours witnessing a public hearing held in Eastpoint, regarding a second hunt of Florida black bears. While it was in many ways a very anxious day for me, I was absorbed and impressed with the speakers (I was Speaker # 66 and there were several dozen more behind me). I didn’t anticipate our collective courage and brilliance. When I first made a pitch to this Commission, in 1984, regarding a nongame wildlife program … Continue
Rights of the Rivers (This is a slightly revised version of a keynote talk I presented at the annual gathering of the Apalachicola Riverkeepers on 3/26/16. It’s longer than usual!) You cannot live in the Southeast without noticing how rivers define the places where we live. They bring us fresh water and so much more, but their geographical delineations of bioregion are among their most magical qualities. I first noticed how the rivers embrace us in the early 1990s, when I traveled … Continue
The beautiful urgency of the garden has brought me to my knees. Spring harvest and spring planting require that I turn away from the concerns of our suffering world for the hours it takes to grow our family’s food. Rows of Garden of Eden pole beans shake free from their brown seed jackets so they can climb. The tomatoes are still orderly, restrained by the cool of these nights. I keep pace with their growth by pinching off side shoots and tying … Continue
Just when I can’t take the thievery of our Florida politicians, monetizing and robbing our public lands, fresh water, oil, black bears….spring comes! And reminds me of the true value and proper scale of Earth’s gifts. From our garden, I harvest my lunch every day: carrots more golden than the brightest coin, butter crunch lettuce, greener than any dollar. I watch the cedar waxwings do the same, swarming the … Continue
St. Vincent Island: An Anthem Last May, New Mexico composer and singer Becky Reardon and Florida’s beloved songwriter and performer Velma Frye joined me for a week to explore St. Vincent Island, on the northwest Florida coast. The island, a National Wildlife Refuge, became both inspiration and subject of an anthem written by the two musicians. I was the privileged observer of their creative process—the only observer, besides the dolphins and the wild birds. My contribution was to introduce the … Continue
I wish I could juggle a camera with a good close-up lens along with my binoculars, spotting scope, bird book and lists, so I could share with you the beautiful beings I was amongst, these last two days. But I’m not that good. Instead I’ll paint you a picture with my words. Imagine standing on the lip of Tahiti Beach, with the West Pass, a warm gale and the rising sun at your back, and miles of … Continue
This could be a story about the privilege of co-hosting Duke professor Orrin Pilkey as he toured our barrier island coast last month. I could have relayed his urgent and fascinating take on islands like ours, because Dr. Pilkey has visited most of the 2200 barrier islands on our planet. And you would have been interested in his findings, that almost every single one is thinning on both front and back sides. “I have come to think of islands as … Continue